


Waiting For The Fall

by WakingNightmares



Series: Let It All Come Crashing Down [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Good Theo Raeken, Hunters, Hurt Theo Raeken, Light Angst, Melissa & Theo Friendship, Mentions of child neglect, Minor Violence, Post-Canon, Pre-Sceo, Pre-Slash, Protective Melissa McCall, Protective Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), mentions of the dread doctors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-10-24 15:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17706929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WakingNightmares/pseuds/WakingNightmares
Summary: “I don’t remember inviting you in,” Melissa growled, glaring at him.“I don’t remember needing your permission,” Theo countered easily, the smirk returning to his face. “Scott asked me to keep an eye on you, and since he’s the Alpha, I’m pretty sure he outranks you.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly, a shout-out to the awesome DemonzDust for beta'ing this for me, and actually making sense of my chaotic ramblings. Y'all should definitely go check out her stuff, especially if you're a Sceo fan.
> 
> Secondly, this is the 'pre' part of the series; part two of this series will delve more into Scott and Theo together, and all the insecurities and drama that goes along with it. Please be advised that I don't typically write romantic relationships at all, focusing more on individual characters. I've delved into the 'if you squint' stuff before, but I make no promises about my ability to write romantic goo.
> 
> Thirdly, I'm going to TRY and post up a new chapter every 7-10 days, depending on my work and school schedule. I make no promises except to try.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Melissa McCall was having an _exceptionally_ shitastic day.

First had come the drive-by shooting at Noah’s house, which was quickly becoming Monroe’s signature move. While the sheriff had escaped relatively well, the bullet through his shoulder being a through-and-through, he’d been admitted overnight for observation, meaning a member of the pack had to stay and keep an eye on him.

Then had come the news that Scott and Chris were going to try and locate the hunters’ base of operations. Because hearing that both her son and her boyfriend were chasing after people who had the nasty habit of shooting and torturing people was exactly what she wanted to hear when she was trying to wash Noah’s blood off her hands.

Scott’s insistence that she have a member of the pack guarding her, at all times, had come next. The fact that her son still thought she was helpless still irritated the hell out of her, making her snap. The argument that had followed, where Chris decided to side with Scott, left her yelling at the two of them, before storming out. By the time she’d cooled off, the two most important people in her life had already embarked on their life-threatening endeavor, costing her the chance to say good-bye.

Then, to top it all off, she got to watch, in slow motion, as the paper bag containing her milk, bananas, and celery tumbled from her arm, and landed on the concrete walkway with a loud ‘splat’.

And because, that was her life, she got to watch, irritation growing, as the milk began to leak through the bag, running down towards the street. Apparently, the container had split open when it hit the ground.

“You know, if you’re gonna _insist_ on stalking me, you could’ve at _least_ offered to carry some of these,” She complained, just loud enough that she knew the werewolf trailing behind, just out of eyesight, would be able to hear.

She couldn’t help the sigh, bowing her head as Theo Raeken, of all people, stepped into the light of the streetlamp, the ever-present smirk on his face as he leaned against her car casually.

“Well, if you’re gonna insist that we _don’t_ follow you around, Scott’s gonna insist that I do it from a distance,” He said easily, his smile growing wider as she scowled at him.

“Out of everyone, all the _possible_ candidates, how the hell did _you_ get the damn job?” She muttered, dropping to one knee as she tried to salvage what she could from the contents of the bag, balancing the other two in her opposite arm. The milk, obviously, was a lost cause, but if she rinsed the celery off, it’d be fine, and the bananas… well, she could always just make banana bread, she supposed.

She jumped a bit when she felt the other bags being tugged out of her arm, and glanced up to see Theo settling the bags into the crook of his arm.

“Because Scott’s smart enough to know you intimidate the hell outta the kids. Which left me as the only choice. Maybe you should try being nicer.”

He didn’t wait for a response, leaving her to scowl at the back of his head as he moved up the steps, easily balancing the bags in one arm as he dug around in his pocket with the other hand, pulling out his keyring and unlocking her door.

“Seriously? Seriously? He gave you a damn _key_?” She grumbled, stomping up the steps behind him, only to come to a quick stop to avoid running into Theo’s outspread arm. He ignored her for a moment, sniffing at the air, his entire body still. She waited impatiently, until he finally lowered his arm, moving inside, and allowing her to follow.

“Christ, this is ridiculous,” She muttered, stomping into the kitchen, and setting the bananas down and taking the celery to the sink. “If Monroe _was_ coming after me, she would’ve done it this morning when she attacked the sheriff,” She said in exasperation as she started rinsing the milk from the stalks.

Theo shrugged as he set the other bags down on the island next to the bananas. “Maybe. Maybe not. Scott doesn’t want to take that chance though. And to be fair, none of the pack does; they’d be lost without their ‘den mom’,” He added with an eye roll. “So, until Scott says otherwise, you’re stuck with me.”

She took a deep breath, trying to reign in her temper. Leaving the celery in the sink to dry, she started going through the bags, methodically pulling out the groceries and putting them away. When she finished, she was surprised to see the Chimera sitting at her table, feet stretched out in front of him, watching her closely.

Shifting uncomfortably under his gaze, she snapped, “I thought you were ‘stalking me’. As in, _not_ making yourself comfortable at my kitchen table.”

He leaned the chair back on two legs, hands folded behind his head. “Well, you already know I’m here. I figured you’d rather have me in here, than sitting around on your roof, freaking out your neighbors.”

“I don’t remember inviting you in,” She growled, glaring at him.

“I don’t remember needing your permission,” He countered easily, the smirk returning to his face. “Scott told me to keep an eye on you, and since he’s the Alpha, I’m _pretty_ sure he outranks you.”

“Uh huh. Really. Well, Scott may be ‘the Alpha’, but I’m still his damn mother, and this is _my_ damn house. You know what, I’m pretty sure I could kick your ass around _my_ kitchen, and there’s not a damn thing you could do about it,” She threw back, her temper finally snapping. “Since we both know the whole pack will rip you apart if you laid a hand on me.”

The sharp ‘clang’ as he dropped the chair back on all fours startled her, almost as much as the dark look on his face as he stood, gliding around the table to set his closed fists on the island, staring at her on the other side.

“You’re right,” He said softly, his blue eyes locking onto hers. “You could beat the shit out of me, knock me around, and there’s not a damn thing I could do about it. Because Scott asked me to watch you, to keep you safe, so that’s _exactly_ what I’m gonna do. Or maybe you could try being _grateful_ that you have a son who cares about you enough to bench one of his best fighters in the middle of a war, just to make sure you’re safe. Just a thought,” He added, the careless tone belying the coldness of his features.

Melissa held her ground, staring right back, for a few moments. She’d be damned if _Theo Raeken_ , of all people, was going to lecture her in her own goddamn kitchen, about her son.

And she opened her mouth to say as much…

But then, she spotted something. A tenseness, to the Chimera’s shoulders, as if he were bracing himself. As if he were waiting for something.

_Like he was actually waiting for her to hit him. Like he was waiting for her to do exactly what she’d said, to stand there and let her beat him, while he stood there and took it._

_Because Scott asked him to protect her._

She broke their gaze, looking down with a sigh. “Alright. You’re absolutely right,” She said quietly, holding her hands up in surrender, and damn her years as a nurse, for making her notice the way he jumped at the movement. “I can’t imagine you want to be here anymore than I want you here. So I guess we should just make the best of it.”

“Really?” He pulled back, his face warring between suspicion and relief. “Just… just that simple?”

“Yeah. It’s not like either of us can actually do anything about it, so… Go ahead, make yourself comfortable, I guess. I’ll get dinner started. You like teriyaki?”

He blinked at her in confusion, and the gesture made her uncomfortable; she was pretty sure this was the first she’d seen Theo at anything less than a hundred percent confident, with a healthy dose of attitude.

“Teriyaki?”

“Yes, Theo. Teriyaki. Scott loves it. I was marinating some chicken breasts for dinner tonight, but since I doubt he’ll be home for a few days, somebody might as well enjoy it,” She said, turning back towards the fridge. “I assume you don’t want me to use the grill?”

When she turned back, he’d resumed his seat at the table, and was shaking his head slowly.

“Probably a bad idea,” He said. “From what I remember, your backyard’s pretty open. Not a lot of trees for cover.”

She nodded, grabbing a pan from the dishrack, and turning the stove on low as she set the chicken in the pan, before turning back to him in confusion.

“When have you been in my backyard?”

“Fourth grade.”

“Ah. Before the whole…” She trailed off, unsure of what to say. _‘Before you killed your sister’? ‘Before you joined the Dread Doctors’?_

_‘Before you were evil’?_

He gave her another smirk, but this one had an edge to it as he lay his arms across his chest. “Yeah, before ‘evil Theo’ became a thing. I remember you were working a lot; you were only here like, two or three when I came over. It was usually Mr. McCall.”

“Just how often were you here?” She asked curiously, rooting through the pantry until she found a bag of instant potatoes.

“Few times a week. Scott and Stiles were the only kids who’d hang with me, so whenever my –“ He stopped short, and shook his head quickly. “When Mr. McCall wasn’t around, we’d go hang at the sheriff’s house.”

As she filled a saucepan with water, she wracked her brain, trying to remember. Fourth grade. That would’ve been before the stair incident, before she kicked Raph out, which had happened the summer before Scott’s fifth grade year. He’d been out of town more and more, and drinking whenever he was home; she’d started picking up extra shifts at the hospital that year just to avoid fighting with him.

Looking back on it always filled her with guilt; to escape the problems in her marriage, she’d thrown herself into her work, rarely thinking about Scott beyond ‘ _he shouldn’t see us fight’_ , frequently leaving the then-nine year old home alone, or with his drunk father, which equaled out to about the same thing. She’d only known Scott was spending so much time at Claudia and Noah’s when Claudia asked for an extra inhaler to keep at their house, as Scott frequently lost his while rough-housing, or exploring, with Stiles.

If she tried though, she could _almost_ remember another boy. A little blond boy, with big blue eyes, always calling her ‘ma’am’ whenever she spoke to him. A little boy with…

“You had asthma,” She said suddenly, turning around to look at him. “I remember you coming to the hospital a few times after you’d had an attack.”

He snorted loudly, crossing his feet in front of him. “Yeah. My – I didn’t usually have an inhaler, so whenever I had an attack, the school would send me to the hospital. Or Scott would give me his,” He added, almost as an afterthought.

“Huh. I’d forgotten about that,” She said absently, turning her attention back to the stove.

“Yeah, well, what can I say. I was a pretty forgettable kid. I know, what happened, right?” He asked, giving her a grin. “I’m gonna go check around. Stay away from the windows.”

“Don’t worry,” She called after him. “I’m not in a big hurry to get shot again. Once was definitely more than enough,” She added to herself, under her breath.

The chicken was mostly finished, and she was setting plates on the table, when she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and she turned sharply. Spotting Theo leaning against the archway, staring at her, didn’t really ‘soothe’ her nerves at all.

“You know, I was kidding about the ‘stalking’ thing.”

He shrugged, not moving forward. “Sorry. Force of habit.”

“What, stalking people?” She asked glibly, moving back towards the stove.

He chuckled, moving into the room. “Moving quiet. It’s a coyote thing, I can’t help it.”

She quirked one eyebrow, flipping the chicken, and turning back to stare at him. “Really? Because Malia is uh… Well, doing anything ‘quietly’ isn’t really her thing.”

“Because Malia’s never been _prey_ ; she’s always been at the top of the food chain. Never had to learn how to sneak, or make herself scarce,” He countered. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Take a look in the fridge, figure out what you want to drink,” She said absently. “And grab me a Dr. Pepper while you’re in there.”

Carrying the pan over to the table, she flopped a piece of chicken on each plate, then did the same with the potatoes. When she set the pan back on the stove, she glanced over at Theo, who was knelt down, staring in the fridge.

“I know there’s not that many options in there, but staring at it isn’t going to make anything miraculously appear,” She said, trying to keep a light tone to her voice. “Trust me, I’ve tried. Doesn’t work.”

He looked up at her, his face completely blank. “There’s no Dr. Pepper in here.”

“What? What the hell, I just bought some on Monday!” She exclaimed, moving closer to the fridge, before rolling her eyes. “Really? It’s right there,” She pointed to the white and red box.

“That’s Diet Dr. Pepper.” Just like his face, his voice was completely neutral.

“Well… yeah, I guess. Does it matter?”

He shook his head, reaching in and grabbing two cans. “Not really.”

With an ease and gracefulness all the werecreatures seemed to share, he moved fluidly to his feet, gliding towards the table. As he went to set the sodas down on the table, however, he hesitated, starring over at Melissa unsurely.

“Are we… supposed to use glasses, or is the… is the can okay?”

Melissa shrugged as she sat down, cracking open her can. “If you want a glass, they’re in the cupboard next to the fridge.”

She watched curiously as Theo hesitated. His face was unsure as he slowly sat back down at the table. Shrugging it off, she started in on her own food, relishing something home cooked over the fast food she got at work.

A few minutes later, she looked up, smiling as she watched Theo devouring his food. All the shifters were like that, she’d noticed. Shoving their food in so quick a human would probably choke to death.

“Is it good?”

Theo started, glancing up at her in surprise, as if he’d forgotten she was there. But he quickly swallowed the food in his mouth, and nodded. “Yeah, it’s… it’s great. Thank you. Really good.”

She couldn’t help but notice that when he went back to eating, it was at a much slower pace. Taking smaller, more measured bites. She could see the amount of effort he was putting into it, how hard he was trying to make it look like he wasn’t trying to keep himself from shoveling it in.

“Theo… I’ve seen the boys all eat before. I get it, it’s a werewolf thing. Just don’t choke on it, and I’m good.”

He started to shake his head, before he went absolutely still, his entire body tensing for a few seconds. Then, quicker than her eyes could follow, he grabbed the side of the table, threw it against the window and reached over to grab her arm in the same movement as the gunshots started, and started dragging her behind the island.

She expected him to drag her out of the room. Maybe to get her to safety, then go after the shooters.

Which made her panic a bit more, as Theo held her tightly in front of him, wrapping as much of her up in front of him as he could, roaring in anger, but keeping an ironclad grip on her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shout-out to the lovely DemonzDust for beta'ing this for me. Especially since she's been very busy writing her own stuff... which y'all should go check out. : )

_“Seriously? This is a_ **_terrible_ ** _idea.”_

 

_“No, it’s not,” Scott said, desperately. “It’ll only be for a few days, until –“_

 

 _“A few_ **_days_ ** _? Scott, are you nuts? Your mom freaking_ **_hates_ ** _me, man; you think she’s gonna want me just ‘hanging around’ for a few freaking days? No. No way.”_

 

 _“Theo…_ **_Please_ ** _,” Scott pleaded, and damn those stupid, big brown eyes that were the literal definition of puppy eyes. “I’ve gotta go help Argent, and we both know she’ll send Liam or Alec packing if they try. I wouldn’t ask, but I literally have_ **_nobody_ ** _else. I know it’s a lot, but –“_

 

_“Fine,” Theo cut him off sharply, coming out as more of a growl. “But you’re gonna owe me big for this, McCall.”_

 

_“Thank you, Theo.” The relief and gratitude in his voice had Theo shifting his feet uncomfortably, as he looked anywhere but at Scott._

 

_“Yeah, whatever. Get outta here before Argent tries doing this by himself.”_

 

_“Alright. Call if you need anything, okay?”_

 

 _“Will you just_ **_go_ ** _already?”_

Theo couldn’t help the roar of anger that escaped his lungs, as he felt a bullet his shoulder. Another one struck his lower back a moment later. Fortunately, after traveling through the window, the table, across the kitchen, and through the island, the bullets had lost enough velocity that they didn’t punch through. As an added bonus, they were lacking that freezing burn that accompanied wolfsbane-laced bullets.

 

Which meant he had time to think. Because while the bullets hurt, they weren’t going to kill him, which meant they could shoot all they wanted. He’d probably feel different when it was time to dig the bullets out, especially if his skin started healing over them.

 

He felt Melissa trying to squirm out of his grasp, and he tightened his grip. Growling in her ear, he dug his claws into her arm, not enough to hurt, but enough to get her attention as he dragged her closer. As long as the bullets weren’t passing through, staying behind the island was their best bet.

 

Sure, he understood the instinct to try and run, and hide; just like the natural reaction was to try and look away from the impending disaster, it was just human nature. But there was nowhere to go that wouldn’t give the hunters a direct line of fire, and there was no way, even with him dragging her, that Melissa could move fast enough to avoid getting shot.

 

In the few seconds between him hearing the soft footsteps outside the window, and the first bullets being fired, he’d weighed his odds, considering all the possible factors. It wasn’t so much that staying still was their _best_ bet… it was really their _only_ option that didn’t end with Melissa taking even a non-fatal bullet.

 

“Dammit, stay down!” He yelled, as she tried pulling away from him, and he yanked her against his chest, pinning her there with both arms. He wasn’t sure if she’d heard him, or if she’d gotten the message through his actions, but she stopped trying to move away, and tucked herself closer against him, pulling her legs underneath her.

 

It seemed like both hours, and seconds, as time passed, bullets whizzing by overhead, as the kitchen itself seemed to explode around them. He felt at least two more bullets pass through the island and hit him, but he didn’t ease up on his grip.

 

Finally, the noise stopped. Focusing his hearing, Theo tried to figure out if they had left, or if they were just reloading; when he heard the sound of a truck driving away, he pushed Melissa forward a bit, and pulled himself into a crouching position, cautiously testing his limbs.

 

“Are they gone?” Melissa whispered, not moving from where he’d shoved her.

 

 _Hmm_. His left leg wasn’t working quite right; while he could put weight on it, he could feel that something was definitely off, although he wasn’t sure what, exactly. Not numb, but rather a tingling sensation, almost like an itch that he instinctively knew he wouldn’t be able to scratch.

 

“Sounds like it,” He said, almost absently as he rolled his shoulders around, testing his movement. A soft hiss escaped as he felt - _and heard_ -the bullet grinding against his scapula. The one on the left, however, he could barely feel, and seemed to be lodged in the meat of his deltoid. The Doctors anatomy lessons came to his mind unbidden as he continued cataloguing his injuries. “Call Scott, let him know.”

 

She reached down, hands going for her pockets, before she looked back up at him almost sheepishly, as she realized she was still wearing her pocketless nurse’s scrubs. “My phone’s in my purse. That was on the table.”

 

“Of course it was,” He muttered, rolling his eyes as he leaned back enough to dig his phone out of his pocket, thankfully still in one piece.

 

“Theo?”

 

“Huh?” He blinked, looking up to see her staring at him expectedly, and he realized that he was still holding onto the phone. “Oh, right.” He quickly swiped in the password pattern, and handed it to her, dimly noting that his right hand was shaking, and filing it away as a result of the bullet. “Number 2 speed dial.”

 

The phone didn’t even have a chance to get the first ring in, when Theo heard Scott’s panicked voice answer, the sound of tires screeching on the road filtering through the background as he spoke.

 

“Mom, we’re less than a minute away! Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine, but –“

 

“They shot up the house, I know. Chris and I are pulling onto our road. Where’s Theo?”

 

“I’m here, Scott,” He said, exhaustedly, as he felt the adrenaline from the last few minutes draining away. “We’re fine.”

 

“Alright, we’re coming in.”

 

Theo chuckled at that; he could hear Scott through the phone, and outside on the front porch. Two sets of footsteps meant Argent was with him, although he could hear Argent moving around to the back of the house, presumably to make sure there weren’t any more hunters waiting.

 

He couldn’t help his sigh of relief as Scott entered the kitchen, the Alpha immediately running over to Melissa, and checking her over. _Thank Christ this  is all somebody else’s problem now_ , he thought as he pulled himself to his feet. All he wanted was to get back to his truck and sleep for a week.

 

As he took a step forward, three things happened, practically simultaneously. The most obvious to him, of course, was both his feet giving out, sending him towards the floor. Melissa’s surprised yelp followed shortly after, as Scott reached out, grabbing him  just before he face-planted on the tile.

 

“Theo, are you…” Theo could hear that, as Scott’s voice stopped, his heartbeat kicked up a notch; distantly, he realized that was about the same moment that Melissa’s scent tinged with worry.

 

“Dammit all!” The older woman cursed, and Theo barely contained his growl as he felt gentle fingers prodding at his shoulders. “Get him into the living room. I’m gonna get the first aid kit.”

 

Theo hissed as he felt Scott throw one of his arm’s over the Alpha’s shoulder, feeling the bullet in his arm ripping deeper into the muscle. His head swam with the pain, vision blurring, and he thanked whatever was listening that Scott was strong enough to keep him upright as his legs dragged uselessly, only the Alpha’s grip on his arm and around his waist keeping him upright.

 

“ ‘ _Fine’_ my ass, you _idiot_ ,” Scott muttered, as Theo’s vision righted, and the living room came into focus. “That many bullet holes isn’t ‘fine’.”

 

“S’not that bad,” Theo said through gritted teeth. “No wolfsbane. I’ll heal.”

 

“Not until we get those bullets out, you won’t. Alright, we’re gonna get you on your stomach, okay?”

 

“Not the couch.” At Scott’s confused look, Theo explained, “Your mom won’t… won’t have enough room. Coffee table… is better.”

 

Scott nodded, and gently lowered Theo face down on the table, and Theo struggled to keep quiet, biting his lips so hard he could taste blood.

 

“Sorry. Sorry, I…”

“S’not my first time being shot, McCall. Untwist your panties.”

 

He frowned down at the Chimera. “Yeah, that makes me feel better,” He said sarcastically. “Seriously, why didn’t you say anything?”

 

He could practically _feel_ the sarcasm rolling off Theo. “Didn’t know. Wasn’t really paying attention. More important stuff going on.”

 

He barely had time to snort, unable to actually reply before Melissa strode into the room, kneeling down next to the coffee table. Scott could tell she was already in full-on nurse mode, her face determined as she started pulling things out of their battered first aid kit, before grabbing a pair of scissors.

 

“Scott, I’m gonna need you to hold him down, alright? I guarantee you some of those hit his organs, and fishing them out is gonna hurt like a bitch,” She warned as she began cutting Theo’s shirt down the middle.

 

“Not my first surgery, either,” Came the mumbled retort from the Chimera. “Hurry up before… the skin closes over.”

 

“Right. No wolfsbane to stop the healing,” She said quietly, nodding to herself. “Alright. Theo, I need you to stay still as much as possible. Scott.”

 

Even as he pressed down, hard, on both of Theo’s shoulders, Scott couldn’t help the way his stomach tightened as he looked down at Theo’s back, blood still slowly oozing from at least a half dozen bullet holes. He reached down inside himself, pulling the pain from Theo in long black lines; it nearly drove him to his feet, nausea roiling in his stomach as he looked away.

 

He eventually had to stop, the pain too much as his vision swirled. He started to pull his hands away, before remembering he was supposed to be holding him down. In that moment though, he realized that Theo wasn’t actually struggling.

 

He was grunting in pain, and his claws were digging through the wood of the table, but he wasn’t trying to get away; other than his muscles tensing, he was mostly still as Melissa dug through his flesh.

 

It was a rough fifteen minutes, Scott counting every second of those minutes, taking Theo’s pain when he could, kneeling next to his head when he couldn’t. The last few minutes were the worst, as Melissa had to cut through his healing skin to find the bullets, but she finally finished, setting her bloody tools aside, and peeling off her gloves.

 

“Theo? You still conscious down there?” She asked, leaning down to look at the Chimera.

 

“Still here.” The reply was tight and strained, his eyes still squeezed shut. “Give me a minute.”

 

“Think you can make it upstairs?” Scott asked quietly.

 

Theo opened one eye to look up at him, exhaustion clear on his face. “Why?”

 

Scott couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “ ‘Cause you’re gonna need to sleep. Your body’s got a lot of healing to do, and I’m pretty sure a bed is gonna be comfier than our coffee table.”

 

“M’fine.”

 

“You know, Theo, I’m starting to think your definition of ‘fine’ needs some work,” Melissa said sternly. “Because  seven _-seven_ ! -bullet doesn’t meet any classification of ‘fine’. At all. _Ever_.”

 

“Sorry ‘bout your table.”

 

“Theo, I don’t care about the damn table.” With a grunt, Scott pushed himself to his feet, leaning down and picking Theo up as gently as he could. Theo’s indignant cursing might’ve been more effective if half the words hadn’t been a slurred, barely understandable mess, or if he’d been capable of putting up any sort of fight. As it was, his eyes were already drooping as Scott approached the stairs, and he was either asleep, or passed out by the time Scott lay him face down on his bed.

 

Theo didn’t move, at all, dead to the world, as Scott set about pulling off his sneakers, and getting his head up on the pillow. Belatedly, he realized he probably should’ve pulled the blankets back before setting Theo down, but a quick trip to the linen closet, and he had one of his mom’s old quilts that he threw over the Chimera, making sure he was covered, before he walked out.

 

He left the door open a crack as he left the room, making his way back downstairs, picking his way over the destruction. It’d been centralized mostly in the kitchen, and the foyer, and he felt a wave of despair as he mentally tallied up the repair costs. Even with him and Argent doing most of the labor last time, materials alone had cost about ten thousand dollars. That wasn’t even figuring in the price of a new door, windows, or appliances in the kitchen.

 

He sighed as he entered the kitchen, glancing out the window -or where the window was supposed to be – in time to see Argent’s SUV pulling away from the house.

 

“Where’s he going?” He asked, turning towards his mom, who had already righted the table, and was getting the chairs set up.

 

“To get some plywood and tarps to cover up the windows for the night,” She said tiredly, dropping into one of the chairs. “How long do you think Theo will sleep?”

 

Scott shrugged as he followed suite. “Hard to say. Other than Corey, the Chimeras all healed slower than werewolves, but I don’t know how much slower. If he was a normal werewolf, I’d say seven or eight hours. So I’d guess we’ve got at least ten or twelve hours before he’s up and moving,” Scott said slowly. “And he’s gonna be hungry. Like… _Really_ hungry.”

 

Melissa scoffed, rolling her eyes affectionately as she leaned back in her chair. “Tell me something I _don’t_ know; after that thing at the hospital, Liam nearly ate us out of house and home,” She said wryly, before growing serious. “What happened? You were too close for this to have been a coincidence, right?”

 

Scott nodded as he stood, moving over to grab two sodas from the fridge which was littered with holes. “Yeah. Didn’t take long for us to figure out they were down in the tunnels, out near the old depot. We got out there, we were looking around… and Monroe figured out we were there.”

 

“Monroe was _here_? You actually saw her?”

 

“Yeah. So we knew we couldn’t just… wait for her to disappear again. We were trying to come up with a plan when somebody spotted us, set off an alarm. Everybody scattered, but we were following Monroe. It took a little bit, but we realized she was headed this way. We were a few blocks down when we heard the shots. She must’ve told one of the other hunters to shoot the house to get us to stop following her.”

 

Melissa nodded as she cracked open her soda can. “That would explain why those rounds weren’t loaded with wolfsbane. They weren’t prepared, or they didn’t know Theo was here.”

 

“Yeah, luckily for him,” Scott said darkly. “If those _had_ been wolfsbane rounds… I don’t know if _I_ could’ve healed through that.”

 

An uncomfortable silence fell, broken only by the light breeze rustling against the curtains. After a few minutes, Melissa sighed, crossing her arms on the table.

 

“So what’s the plan?”

 

“I don’t know,” Scott admitted quietly. “I… I’m _tired_ , mom. We all are. Liam and Corey are gonna have to repeat their senior year, Mason’s putting college off for a year, Alec’s falling asleep in classes, and Nolan quit the lacrosse team just so he could have time to do his homework. Me, Argent, and Theo spend pretty much every waking hour hunting them down, and it just… doesn’t seem like it’s actually helping. I just… I’m tired,” He repeated.

 

They lapsed back into silence, each lost in their own thoughts, before Scott heard the sound of Argent’s SUV pulling up. Wordlessly, he pushed himself up from the table, and started outside.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, a shout-out to DemonzDust for her awesome beta'ing, and for making the graphic to go along with this story.

 

 

When Theo woke, the first thing he noticed, before his eyes even opened, was the presence of another heartbeat in the room with him. He had a moment of panic before the familiar scent of Old Spice and lavender fabric softener hit his nose. He opened his eyes to see Scott sleeping in the old recliner in the corner.

 

Biting back a groan, he silently slid his feet off the far edge of the bed, feeling his back tighten as he stood. He grabbed his shoes from the bottom of the bed, and slipped out of the room. It was a testament to how tired Scott was, that the Alpha didn’t even stir. Theo felt a brief flash of guilt as he glanced back through the open door and watched Scott sleep for a moment. He was stretched out, feet spread in front of him, boots still on, arms folded across his chest, his head half-cocked against the back.

 

He’d slept in the damn _chair_ , because he’d put Theo in _his_ bed.

 

Theo turned sharply, ignoring the twinge of guilt that particular thought brought with it, and moved downstairs towards the kitchen, his stomach growling loudly.

 

He stopped, abruptly, when he spotted Chris Argent sitting at the kitchen table, a sketchpad and notebook in front of him. He was debating whether or not he could slip out the front the door without the hunter hearing him, when the older man’s voice stopped him.

 

“Good morning, Theo.”

 

Internally cursing, he turned away from the front door, plastering a smile on his face, as he sat down across the table. Idly, he noticed the windows had been covered with tarps. “Morning, Mr. Argent. Where’s Mrs. McCall?”

 

“Getting breakfast. Laundry room’s through the back.”

 

“What?” When the older man stared pointedly at his chest, Theo realized he was shirtless. “Oh.”

 

“Yeah. Melissa had to cut your shirt off, but I’m sure Scott wouldn’t mind if you borrowed one of his.”

 

Wordlessly, Theo got up, and made his way into the laundry room. Spotting a basket of clothes on top of the dryer, he shifted through them until he found what he was looking for: a long-sleeved shirt that smelled the least like Scott —presumably, a shirt he didn’t wear as often —and quickly pulled it on.

 

“Hey, how heavy’s your truck?”

 

“Um… It’s a half-ton,” Theo said as he sat back down at the table. “Why?”

 

“How big’s the bed?”

 

“Five and a half foot.”

 

Argent stared back down at the sketchpad in front of him, then glanced over at the notebook again, before nodding. “Alright. You mind making a trip to Lowe’s later? Save Melissa a hassle if we don’t have to try and rent a truck to get everything here.”

 

“Uh… Yeah. Yeah, sure, just give me a list of what I gotta get. Let me get my shoes on, and I can head to the hospital.” At Argent’s curious look, he added, “I left it there when I was following Mrs. McCall home.”

 

“Ah. Well, why don’t you wait ‘til Scott gets up? The two of you can go.”

 

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Theo said sharply. “I’ll even promise not to kill some suburban dad looking to rebuild his patio.”

 

Argent didn’t seemed phase by his temper, simply shrugging. “Well, if you feel the need to promise, fine, but I was more concerned about the seven bullets Melissa pulled out of you last night.”

 

“I’ll be fine.”

 

“Suit yourself,” The older man said casually, returning his attention back to his work, not paying him anymore attention.

 

Biting back a growl, Theo got up, and started towards the front door.

 

“I’m gonna go get my truck. Think you’ll have that done by the time I get –”

 

He stopped, startled, as he pulled open the door to spot Melissa standing with a tray of coffee in her hand, another balanced between her chest and arm, a McDonald’s bag in her teeth, and a Dunkin Donuts bag in the hand that had been reaching for the doorknob. Wordlessly, he reached out, grabbing both the coffee trays, and the Dunkin Donuts bag.

 

“Thanks,” She said, after taking the bag out of her mouth. “I was hoping you’d hear me come up, there’s no way I was actually gonna be able to get that open.” When Theo opened his mouth to speak, her look turned sharp. “Because that is what you were doing, right? Opening the door for me? You wouldn’t be running off without saying anything, would you?”

 

“Uh… no?” Theo could hear Argent’s quiet chuckling from the other room. “No, I uh… I was just… Mr. Argent wanted me to get my truck, and head to Lowe’s, so…”

 

“Well, not without breakfast, or before I check your back. And I don’t want to hear anything about you being ‘fine’,” She said, frowning at him as he set the coffee down on the table. “After last night, I’m disinclined to trust your definition of ‘fine’. Oh, here,” She said, picking the McDonald’s bag up, and handing it to him. “Figured you’d need something a bit heavier than a donut.”

 

He didn’t have to open the bag to know what was in it; the scents of bacon, sausage, and ham mixed with egg hit his nose like a freight truck. As he sat down at the table, he forced himself to open the bag slowly, pulling out the five breakfast sandwiches. He carefully unwrapped them, one by one, determined not to have a repeat of the previous night’s dinner.

 

“Theo.”

 

It took almost all of his willpower to look away from the sandwiches. Argent stared at him pointedly, before turning his gaze down towards Theo’s hands. Following suit, Theo started a bit, surprised to see his fingernails had turned brown, already beginning to grow out.

 

“You need to eat. Now.”

 

Chris watched, still cautious, as Theo glanced down at his hands, the smallest hint of surprise in his eyes —the eyes that had turned yellow, although Chris doubt the boy had realized it.

 

“Kitchen’s a wreck, somebody’s probably going to shoot us, and we’re all tired… neither of us care how fast you shovel it in.”

 

The Chimera raised his head, looking first at Chris, and then at Melissa, who gave him a reassuring smile. Then he ducked his head for a moment, before giving in, eating half of the first sandwich in a single bite.

 

Chris barely kept the smile off his face, as he turned half his attention to Melissa, starting a running conversation about the materials, and costs, of repairs. It didn’t take long for Theo to demolish the other four sandwiches, and as the boy looked up, nostrils flaring a bit, Chris shoved three doughnuts towards that end of the table. He’d known what was coming, so as Theo’s hand snatched at them, Chris had already pulled his hands back.

 

“So I think, unless I find more damage to the underlying structure, it shouldn’t be as much as last time,” He said, giving Melissa a smile. “Expensive part is going to be the appliances, and the island; other than that, I think probably five or six thousand.”

 

Melissa sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, and looking around the ruined remains of her kitchen. “I really liked that stove,” She said morosely. “And the fridge. And the dishwasher.”

 

Chris chuckled. “We’ll get it figured out, Mel. Don’t worry. Mason sent me a text this morning; him, Liam, and Corey are gonna come over after school, and with me and Scott during the day, we’ll get it done. Few days at most.”

 

“I uh… I’d like to help.”

 

Chris turned, looking back at Theo. His eyes were blue again, his fingernails normal, and he sat straight in the chair, not looking at him, but Melissa.

 

“I don’t know much about carpentry, but I’m a quick learner. And with Monroe still around, it wouldn’t hurt to have some extra bodies.”

 

Melissa scoffed. “You’re not an ‘extra body’, Theo, and if I have to pull any more bullets out of you, we’re gonna have serious words. But,” She said, her voice growing softer. “I would definitely appreciate the help. I’m sure Chris wouldn’t mind teaching you a few things.”

 

Chris nodded, glancing back down at his notes. “Had to teach Scott too,” He said idly.

 

“Teach me what?”

 

All three heads turned, as Scott rounded the corner into the kitchen, still rubbing his eyes. He tried biting back a yawn, but failed miserably and joined them at the table. He gave Melissa a grateful smile as she shoved a cup of coffee at him, before turning his attention back to Chris.

 

“Which end of a hammer to hold,” Chris said with a smile. “After you eat, you mind going with Theo to Lowe’s and getting supplies?”

 

“Yeah, sure. Just let me eat, grab a quick shower, and we can head out. Sound good?”

 

Theo nodded, glancing over at the clock on the wall. “If you want, I can go get my truck, meet you back here. No point in both of us having to walk.”

 

“No way,” Scott said vehemently. “Nobody’s going anywhere alone until everything quiets down. Give me five minutes to shower, and we can both go.”

 

“Good. That’ll give me five minutes to make sure everything’s healing the way it should,” Melissa said, standing, and moving towards Theo.

 

* * *

 

It was actually closer to twenty minutes, by the time Melissa was content to let Theo leave. Since she’d bought him breakfast, he’d let her poke and prod with no griping, and only minimal eye-rolling. Sure, he knew that it took longer to heal internally, but he’d had injuries just as bad before, and he’d healed up on his own just fine.

 

But he appreciated the sentiment, as weird as it felt. He’d briefly tried thinking back to the last time he’d had someone touch him, that hadn’t ended in pain —either for him, or the other person.

 

“Hey, you passed out last night before I could say it, but uh… I just wanted to say thanks.”

 

Theo was pulled from his thoughts, and he glanced over at Scott. “It’s no big deal,” He said casually.

 

“Dude, you got shot seven times. That’s kind of a big deal. If you hadn’t been there…” Scott’s voice trailed off, his face growing dark.

 

Theo shrugged uncomfortably, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Look, don’t worry about it, okay?” He muttered. “It’s why I was there.”

 

He was startled, jumping a bit, as Scott came to a stop, putting his arm out to stop Theo. “Theo, I’m trying to say thank you. Just nod and say you’re welcome, alright?”

 

Theo couldn’t help but roll his eyes, snorting a bit. “Fine. You’re welcome. Can we get going now? Or do we have to hug?”

 

Scott chuckled as they both started walking again, the hospital coming into sight as they rounded the corner.  “Alright, I get it. I just wanted you to know, I appreciate it. All of it. Last night with my mom, letting us use your truck, helping fix the house… It means a lot,” He said quietly.

 

It was Theo’s turn to come to a stop, just at the edge of the parking garage. “Scott… Seriously. It’s fine. You don’t have to thank me, okay? Just… let’s just get to the truck, get the supplies, and get back,” He said, and he couldn’t keep the exhaustion from his voice as they walked towards the truck. “It’s not like I had anything else going on.”

 

Scott leaned on the hood of the truck, his brown eyes serious as he caught Theo’s gaze. “Theo, you don’t get shot for somebody because you ‘didn’t have anything else going on’. My mom isn’t anybody to you, but you kept her safe anyways. That doesn’t just mean a lot to me, but it says a lot about _you_. You could’ve done a lot of things last night, but you chose to let yourself get shot to make sure she didn’t get hurt.”

 

“Maybe I did it to get you to trust me.”

 

As soon as he’d said it, Theo regretted the words, mentally kicking himself. But Scott just gave him that soft, bright smile he was famous for. The smile he’d given him back in fourth grade, when Theo would show up at his house late at night. The smile he’d given him under the bridge, the first time they’d seen each other in seven years.

 

“You don’t have to ‘do’ anything, Theo. You’ve more than proven yourself this year.”

 

Theo didn’t know what to say to that, so he didn’t say anything. He simply opened the door to his truck, and got inside, waiting for Scott to do the same thing, before starting the truck, and heading out of the garage.

* * *

 

Scott couldn’t help but notice how much more at ease Theo seemed when they were inside Lowe’s. His normal, playful smirk was glued to his face as they traversed up and down the aisles. Scott had given Theo the list to keep track of, while he pushed the cart, and loaded the materials as they went; Melissa had told him before they left that Theo was probably still healing internally, and should the heavy lifting, and Scott had taken her at her word.

 

“What’s next?”

 

“Uh… Ten five eighths inch drywall panels, ten foot by four foot?” Theo said, glancing down at the list. “Then we just gotta get the paint.”

 

Scott nodded, pushing the cart a few more aisles until he found the drywalling section. It took him a few minutes of searching to find the right size, but luckily, they were on the bottom shelf.

 

“Alright, so I’m gonna need you to help me load these, but we gotta be careful; they’re pretty fragile, and if they break, they’re no good,” He explained, motioning Theo down towards the opposite end of the panels. “One at a time.”

 

It took them a few minutes, with Scott trying to shoulder most of the weight, but eventually they had all ten panels loaded, in the rung next to the plywood.

 

“Alright. Just paint then, right?”

 

“Yeah. You think you can grab that? I wanna go check something real quick.”

 

Scott frowned. “Uh… sure? You need help or anything?”

 

Theo rolled his eyes as he handed the list over to Scott. “I just wanna check something out for my truck. Pretty sure you can handle getting paint without me. I’ll meet you up front.”

 

“Um... Alright?”

 

Theo was already gone before Scott could finish speaking, and he was left standing in the aisle, list in hand, staring at the Chimera’s retreating back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, big shout-out to Demonzdust for beta'ing this for me. : )
> 
> Just noticed that I totally posted up the next chapters notes on this chapter. : / Oops

Melissa glanced out her bedroom window, smiling as she watched Scott cutting apart a piece of drywall. Chris pointed something out to him —she couldn’t hear what —and Scott stopped the saw, allowing Chris to realign the slab before starting up again.

Raf had never taken the time to show Scott how to do anything. It had always been someone else showing Scott how to throw a ball, pitch a tent, go fishing… The few times Raf had tried to do things with Scott, he’d quickly lost both his patience and his temper. Yelling until Scott was reduced to tears. That, in turn, would make Raf angrier, until he’d storm off to whatever bar he hadn’t been kicked out of yet.

She’d seen the remnants of that the first time Chris had helped them repair the house after Monroe’s first drive-by. Every time Scott had made a mistake, or whenever Chris had stopped him to correct him, she’d see Scott’s face darken. Watch as he’d brace himself for the fall-out.

But Chris had never been anything but patient with him. No matter how bad the mistake was or how much work needed to be redone because of it, Chris never lost his temper. Never screamed or shouted. He’d never been anything but patient as he demonstrated and explained, repeating himself as often as necessary, never getting exasperated.

It had always been one of her biggest worries, a large part of the reason she’d only had four or five dates in the seven years since the divorce. Even the nicest guys had worried her because Raf had been sweet and caring those first few years too. But Scott had encouraged her relationship with Chris, and in turn, the two men in her life had developed a bond she’d always wished Scott could’ve had with his own father.

As she started to turn away from the window, her smile turned to a frown. She spotted Theo, trying to slide a large sheet of plywood onto two sawhorses by himself. His arms weren’t quite long enough to wrap around the whole sheet, and every time he tried to shove it from the end, the sawhorses would slide back.

After about half a minute, Chris noticed, and moved towards him. As Chris drew closer, she couldn’t help but notice the flash of panic that crossed the boy’s face.

But Chris kept his movements slow and measured, even going so far as to hold one of his hands up, before grabbing the opposite end of the plywood, and sliding it onto the sawhorse. She couldn’t hear what he said, or what Theo said in response, but she could see Theo stiffen defensively.

Chris, however, didn’t react at all, moving next to the Chimera and handing him a set of trammel points. From his motions, she could tell the hunter was explaining how to use them, and showing him how to configure the measurements to the ones on the paper. After a few minutes, he moved away, and left Theo alone again. She couldn’t help but notice that Theo was still moving a bit stiffly, slower than his usual graceful motion, and her trained eye could see that he was favoring his right side.

_“Alright, take that shirt off so I can get a look at you,” She said sternly._

_Theo blinked at her from in front of the couch. “Why?”_

_“Uh… because you were shot? Multiple times?” She said with an eye roll._

_He scoffed loudly. “Yeah, and I’m also a werewolf/coyote hybrid. I heal,” He countered. “I appreciate it, but I’m fine.”_

_“See, it’s funny that you think I’m asking. You’re not going anywhere until I check and make sure everything’s healing the way it should,” She said firmly. “Shirt. Off.”_

_He held her gaze for a few seconds, before shrugging. “Fine. Whatever,” He muttered, turning around, and pulling Scott’s borrowed shirt off._

_“Tell me if anything hurts, alright?” She said, starting at the small of his back, pressing her fingertips against the still slightly visible bullet marks._

_Theo stayed silent during her exam, but she could tell from his slight twitches that he was still healing internally; the worst of it seemed to be in his left shoulder, where the bullet had splintered his scapula, and buried itself into the muscle beneath. If he hadn’t been a Chimera, if he had been human, he probably would’ve lost the use of that arm entirely._

_She sighed as she motioned at the shirt.“Alright. You can put your shirt back on.”_

_“Told you I was fine,” He said with a smirk, as he turned around, pulling the shirt back on._

_“You’re not ‘fine’. Everything is still healing internally, and your shoulder is still pretty bad. I want you to take it easy today, alright? No heavy lifting.”_

She sighed as she headed back downstairs, and into the ruined remains of her kitchen. She and Chris had already picked up most of the debris and rubble from the shooting while the boys were getting supplies; they’d hauled out the stove, fridge, and dishwasher, then shut off the water to the kitchen so the sink was ready for replacement.

Carefully, she stepped through the hole where the new windows would go, and out into the front yard. Scott and Chris were still sawing and angling the pieces of drywall, so she moved towards Theo.

The Chimera was glaring down at the plan Chris had drawn up for the island, a frown on his face. He looked up at her when she approached, and quickly plastered a pleasant smile on his face as she approached, but she couldn’t help but notice that it didn’t quite meet his eyes.

“Hey, Mrs. McCall. Need something?”

She shook her head as she moved around the sawhorses, and stopped next to him. “Nope. Figured since all the inside stuff is done for now, I’d come out and give you guys a hand. So… anything I can help you with?”

He looked back down at the paper, over at the board, his smile disappearing as he looked back up at her. “Probably not the best person to ask,” He muttered.

“Tell you what, why don’t you slide over, and we’ll take a look together?”

“You sure?” He asked unsurely. “I can figure it out. I mean, you’re probably tired, and you gotta go to work tonight, right?”

She chuckled. “I took the next few days off; one of the benefits of Dr. Geyer knowing what’s going on now, he gave me some PTO.” When Theo wrinkled his brows in confusion, she explained, “Paid Time Off. Means I’ll still get paid. And _you’re_ probably more tired than I am. You still feeling okay?”

He growled a bit. “I’m freaking _fine_ . I swear, you guys are acting like this is the first time I’ve been shot. Guess what, it’s not.” She raised an eyebrow at his tone, and he backed down, shrinking into himself, before he continued in a more moderated tone. “I’m sorry, I just… I’m a freaking _Chimera_ , Mrs. McCall. I’ll _heal_. Yeah, it hurt, yeah, it sucked, but I’m fine. It’s not gonna kill me.”

  


“Theo… The fact that it doesn’t bother you that you got shot, and the fact that it makes you so uncomfortable that we’re concerned makes me _more_ concerned,” She said softly, trying to keep the sympathy out of her voice.

“I’m not uncomfortable,” He said quickly. “It’s just stupid. It’s not like I’m dying or anything.”

She shook her head, but kept quiet as she started reading the plans Chris had drawn. But even as they started working, falling into an easy rhythm, her mind kicked into overdrive.

She was struggling to remember Theo’s parents. She’d never really thought about it before; she remembered when his sister —Theresa? —had died, she’d actually been in the hospital when they’d brought the girl’s body in.

And she’d been there a few times when Theo had been brought in for asthma attacks. She could actually remember a conversation she’d had with the pediatrician at the time, Dr. Mackey, about it; she’d notated in his chart that someone needed to sit down with both Theo and his parents, and explain that he needed to start keeping an inhaler on him after the fifth time in two months he’d been in.

She didn’t know if anybody had ever followed up on that; she wasn’t assigned to pediatrics, but the intensive care unit, so she’d left that up to the nurses on the pediatrics wing to handle.

But when she thought back on it, all she could remember was the scared little boy, sitting in the large hospital bed; she couldn’t remember ever seeing his parents in the E.R. with him. Obviously someone would have had to show up eventually —someone would have had to check him out. But try as she might, she just couldn’t remember any adults showing up.

“Theo?” The Chimera glanced up at her, pencil in his mouth as he rotated the trammel points. “What did your parents do?”

Slowly, he took the pencil from his mouth, a dark look on his face. “About what?”

“For a living.”

“Lawyer and housewife. Why?”

Melissa shrugged as she handed him a water bottle. “I was just thinking, I don’t remember them ever coming to the hospital after one of your attacks.”

He scoffed as he cracked the seal on the bottle. “Yeah, that sounds about right.” He didn’t say anything else as he took a long drink. Afterwards, he carefully set the bottle on the edge of his truck, and went back to measuring.

She kept staring for a moment, not liking the implication, before shaking it off.

“I’m gonna run to the store, get some food for later; with all the pack coming over, I should probably just buy the whole store,” She added with eye roll. “Hell, Liam will eat the damn _fridge_ if there’s not enough on the freaking table.”

“Want company? I’m not really doing much here, and it’s probably not a good idea for you to be alone.”

She shrugged. “If you want. I imagine Scott probably will want someone to, anyways. But we’re taking my car,” She added. “I’ve heard how you drive.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the incredulous look on his face.

 

*     * * Later that night *     * *

 

“We’re taking off; see you tomorrow?”

Scott gave a small nod, throwing out a slight wave of his hand as Liam, Mason, and Corey headed towards the house. He watched until they moved around the side, and then turned his attention back to the fire.

There’d been way too much debris to take to the garbage dump, so as night fell, Scott and the pack had dragged all the burnable materials into the backyard, and started a large bonfire. Melissa and Theo had come back with nine bags of  hot dogs and enough marshmallows and chocolate to provide a small army with s’mores, but within an hour, it’d all been gone. Shortly after, with Mason starting to fall asleep on Corey’s lap, Liam had announced they were leaving.

His mom and Argent had went to bed as well, leaving him alone by the fire with Theo. He had gone beyond tired into that state of exhausted alertness that guaranteed he wouldn’t be able to sleep for hours still.

“You’re really lucky, you know.”

Scott glanced up at Theo, sitting across from him. The Chimera was breaking small pieces off a branch and throwing them into the fire.

“What do you mean?”

Theo chuckled under his breath, shaking his head a bit. “Your mom. She’s just… You know she made me dinner last night? Like, she actually cooked me a _meal_ . You know the last time somebody cooked me something that I didn’t pay them to make? Then she had seven teenage boys, three werewolves, two Chimeras, and two humans, who ate a hundred dollars worth of hot dogs and s’mores in less than two hours, and she never batted an eyelash. Hell, her freaking _house_ got shot up, and it didn’t even slow her down. And I bet she’s gonna be up before both of us, out getting breakfast again. She’s like freaking Superwoman.”

Scott smiled, laughing softly. “Yeah. I mean… When she first found out about… all of this—” He waved one hand vaguely at himself “—It sort of threw her at first. But she came around pretty quick. I think she was more mad that I hadn’t told her; she found out when Gerard was threatening to kill her, and she told me to not give in; that I had to fight him.”

“I can’t imagine _that_ went over well with her. She strikes me as the type to take that sort of thing personally,” Theo said sardonically.

“Oh, she did.” The two boys lapsed into a companionable silence, before Scott looked across the fire again. “What about your mom? What was she like? I don’t think I ever actually met her.”

Even without the benefit of his werewolf vision, Scott wouldn’t have been able to miss how Theo’s face darkened. He threw what remained of the branch into the fire roughly, and Scott waited. The silence grew more and more uncomfortable, before Theo finally spoke again.

“What are you doing, Scott?”

“Uh, about… what?” He asked, confused at the change in topic.

“About your _life_ . We both know Monroe isn’t going to stop. Let’s just say we do find her, and kill her, there’s _always_ gonna be another threat. Another crisis. Somebody else who needs saving. How long are you gonna put your life on hold for all this? You already put off college for a year, and let’s be honest, we both know you’re already planning to put it off for another year. So what exactly do you have planned for your life?”

Scott picked up a long branch, and began poking at the fire idly, taking a few seconds to think. He knew Theo was deflecting, and trying to change the subject, and part of him thought about forcing the issue. But he decided to answer Theo’s question, and not push an issue Theo was obviously uncomfortable with. “If we’re being honest… I don’t know,” He admitted quietly. “Trying not to think about it.”

“So is _this_ what you’re planning on doing for the rest of your life? Protecting Beacon Hills, fighting other people’s wars? Giving up any chance of a normal life?”

Scott shrugged. “What choice do I have? Somebody’s gotta do it, and —”

“If you say you’re the ‘True Alpha’, I swear I’m gonna puke,” Theo interrupted, and Scott was startled at his vehement tone. “Seriously, you didn’t _ask_ for it; you didn’t sign up for _any_ of this. You can’t just put your life on hold because of a random chance thing you didn’t even _want_.”

“Yeah, but —”

“No. No _‘buts’_ . If I were to ask you, right here, right now, if you could _do_ anything, _have_ anything, what would you do with your life? Could you even give me an answer?” When Scott hesitated, Theo’s voice softened. “You can’t live your life for everybody else, Scott. It’s not selfish to want something for yourself.”

Scott couldn’t help his chuckle. “Stiles told me the same thing our junior year. But… honestly, it’s been so long since I could make a decision for myself that didn’t affect everybody around me, you know? It’s like, that moment when Peter bit me, all of the sudden, I had to measure every decision against how it would affect everyone around me. I’m not even sure I _can_ stop,” He admitted. “Like I wouldn’t even know how to start.”

Theo rolled his eyes. “You start by going to school. Getting a job. Maybe getting a house of your own, settling down, have two point two kids, a dog, picket fence, all that jazz. Let Beacon Hills take care of itself for a while. Have your own life.”

“So you’re saying I should, what, not worry about Beacon Hills? Just say to hell with it?” Scott asked heatedly. “That it’s not my problem?”

“It’s _not_ your problem, Scott. I’m not saying you can’t help out… But guess what, Scott? There’s _hundreds_ of supernatural critters living Beacon Hills. Probably a thousand or more if we count the whole county. Way more than just werecreatures, by the way,” He said pointedly. “Any number of ‘em could’ve stepped up to help. And guess what, if you’re not here? Somebody else _will_ step up. You don’t have to hold the weight of the freaking world, Scott. It’s not all going to fall apart if you do something for yourself.”

Scott shook his head. “Theo… I can’t just walk away,” He said, unable to keep the note of desperation from his voice. “What if I go to college, and while I’m two hundred miles away, Monroe kills somebody? What if she kills my mom, or Liam, or Mason… Hell, what if she kills _you_? What if she catches you again, and kills you this time? All while I’m sitting in a classroom learning how to dissect frogs.”

“How would that be your fault?” Theo demanded. “Let’s say Monroe did catch me. Let’s say she killed me. How would any of that be your fault?”

“Because I could’ve stopped it!”

“So what you’re saying is that you think Liam, me, your mom, all of us, are absolutely incapable of taking care of ourselves? That we need you to save us?”

“What? No, that’s not… That’s not what I meant,” Scott said in confusion. “I know you guys can take care of yourselves.”

“Then why the hell is it your fault if something happens?”

“Because you’re my pack!” Scott said in frustration, struggling to keep his voice quiet. “Because it’s my freaking _job_ to make sure you guys are all safe.”

“No, it’s _not_ . That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Theo said softly, his face sad. “If something comes up, yeah, sure, we call you, you come help out. But your _job_ isn’t to put your life on hold for us, Scott. Look at Stiles, Lydia, Malia —they all moved on, and the world didn’t come crashing down. If we need ‘em, we call, and they show up if they can. You could do that too, if you weren’t such an obnoxiously good person.”

Scott’s eyebrows raised in amazement. “Who, me? Are you serious?”

“Yeah, I’m serious. No matter how bad things get, no matter how bad people are, you’re always looking for the best in them. Me, Deucalion, Peter, Argent… We’ve all tried to kill you, and not only did you not try to kill us back, but you kept looking for the good in us. You’re a good person, so you’re always looking for the good in everybody else.”

Scott scoffed quietly, poking his stick at the ground. “Not always. I wanted to kill _all_ of you, for a while. Just because I can keep my temper in check until I cool down enough to think it through doesn’t make me any better than the rest of you. There are times when I want to explode, to just rip Monroe’s head off, to kill all of her hunters. When I’m so angry, I can’t even think, and it feels like my head is gonna pop if I don’t punch somebody.”

“But you _haven’t_ ,” Theo pointed out. “ _Everybody_ feels that way, Scott, and most people act on it. You don’t. Sure, you’ve been afraid, but you don’t run. You’ve been angry, but you don’t let it control you. You’ve been at the edge of your rope, but you _always_ climb back up. It’s not how you feel, but how you _act_ on those feelings that makes you such a good guy. I mean, hell, Scott, after not seeing me for seven years, you just accepted me into your inner circle, basically made me pack, and trusted me with all of your problems. A guy you hadn’t seen since fourth grade, and you just picked up like I’d never left.”

Scott shrugged. “ ‘Cause I remembered you. You were my best friend after Stiles. Hell, you were my _only_ friend other than Stiles.”

“Sad commentary on your life when I was one of your only two friends,” He said with a grunt.

“Dude, you were a _great_ friend,” Scott said, a disapproving tone in his voice. “Don’t get me wrong, I love Stiles, but even when we were kids, he was always…demanding, I guess? Like we always had to be doing something. Usually getting into trouble. With you, it was just… it was easy, you know? Sure, we’d go skateboarding sometimes, but sometimes we’d just… hang out. When my parents were fighting, you would always just listen. Stiles always thought he had to comment, or say something to make me feel better. Like he couldn’t understand I just wanted somebody to listen. But you did. You’d just… listen, you know? That’s probably why I spilled all our dirty little secrets and everything when you came back. ‘Cause when we were kids, I knew you were the one person I could talk to who would just _listen_ . When my parents were fighting, when I was getting picked on in school, when everything was just… falling apart, you just listened. Like what I was saying mattered, that you cared enough to just let me get it all off my chest. And that meant _everything_ to me.”

He tried discerning the look on Theo’s face, and failed miserably. The Chimera was a blank slate, his face completely neutral.

“We should probably get some sleep,” Theo said after a minute. “It’s getting late.”

Scott made the split-second decision not to push the issue any further. He stretched, yawning as he did, and laid back. “You can go inside if you want. I think I’m gonna camp out here,” He said quietly. “It’s been forever since I camped out.”

“Probably not a good idea,” Theo cautioned, but even as he spoke, he rearranged himself so he was laying on his side. “Monroe could come back.”

Scott snorted. “Like we wouldn’t hear her coming a mile away. You’re the lightest sleeper I’ve ever met. We’ll be fine.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, all! So firstly, I'd like to point out, not only do you have Demonzdust to thank for beta reading this for me... not only do you have her to thank for making the aesthetic at the bottom... But she was also the inspiration for this chapter. So... yeah. Her stuff is amazing, y'all should totally go check it out.

Scott wasn’t sure what woke him up. Alpha instinct? A noise that had reached his subconscious?

The fire was still smoldering next to him, embers and coals still throwing heat. He glanced across, and spotted Theo, who was still asleep.

He’d turned his attention towards the house, then did a double take, looking back across the fire. Although he was still, Theo’s heart was pounding, faster than Scott thought possible. The scent of his sweat mingled with the smoke from the fire.

Before he could even think about his actions, Scott was by Theo’s side. He cautiously reached out, laying a hand on the Chimera’s shoulder. His worry increased tenfold when Theo didn’t react at all, other than a quickening of his heartbeat.

“Theo?” He tried, shaking his shoulder a bit. “Hey. Theo!” Still nothing. Panic welling up in his chest, he shook Theo harder. “Theo! Wake up, man, you’re dreaming!”

Theo’s eyes snapped open, bright yellow glowing in the darkness. A heartbeat later, Scott felt both of Theo’s feet hit his chest, kick him backwards onto his ass. In the same movement, Theo had pushed himself backwards, scrambling crab-style away from Scott.

A thick, almost overwhelming mixture of terror, and anxiety filled the air, the chemosignals almost overpowering as Theo panted. He stared at Scott in horror for a few seconds, before his eyes squeezed shut.

“No, no, no. Not real. Not real. It’s not real.” He whispered desperately.

Cautiously, Scott pulled himself up, coming to a crouch. “Theo? Hey, it’s me. It’s Scott. You’re in my backyard, remember? We had a cookout with the Pack, and then we fell asleep out here.”

He immediately stopped when Theo scooted backwards again, eyes snapping open. “No! No—please, I didn’t do anything! I swear, I didn’t do anything—please. Please, I won’t do anything, I swear,  _ please! _ ”

“Theo, listen to me. Whatever you’re seeing, it’s not real.? There’s nobody here but you and me. It’s just us, alright? Listen, I’m just gonna stay right here, and we’re just gonna talk. I’m not gonna touch you, Theo, I’m just gonna talk.” He racked his brain, trying to think of a safe topic. “You remember, back in second grade when we found that kitten? Mrs. Harrow had given us each five dollars for helping her do her gardens.  We were heading to the corner store when we heard it; poor thing was already half dead. You scooped it up, and we both ran all the way to Deaton’s.” He chuckled softly. “Hell, had to be almost half a mile, and we ran the whole way. Deaton’s face when he realized our parents didn’t know where we were… I could hear my mom yelling at him to yell at me. Neither one of us wanted to leave, though. Deaton let us stay until Sheriff Stilinski finished his shift, and picked us up.”

As Scott spoke, he watched the yellow in Theo’s eyes slowly fade, until they were blue again. His heart beat —while still high —had slowed down, and his breathing had evened out.

“You wanted to adopt it,” He said, his voice raw with emotion. “But your mom said a sick kitten was too much work. That’s when she got you Roxie.”

Scott breathed a sigh of relief, and started to move forward, before he thought better of it, and sat back down; he couldn’t help the flash of sorrow when Theo relaxed a bit more, sitting up, and hugging his knees to his chest.

“Does… does that happen a lot?” He asked after a few minutes of silence.

Theo shrugged, but Scott didn’t miss the slight shiver that coursed through him. “Sometimes. Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” His voice trailed off, and he stared at the ground in front of him.

“Didn’t mean to have a nightmare? Yeah, nobody ever does. It’s nothing to be sorry about,” Scott said as gently as he could. “Did… did you wanna talk about it?” When Theo shrugged again, he prodded, “Was it… was it the Dread Doctors?”

Theo shook his head slowly. “Sort of… It was in the operating theater, but Tara was... she was one of the Dread Doctors.” He must have caught the look of hesitation in Scott’s eyes, because he chuckled softly, before continuing, “I didn’t… You all think I killed her for her heart, but that’s not… That’s not what happened.”

“Alright. So tell me what actually happened then,” Scott said quietly.

“You guys ever stop to wonder why I was so much younger than everybody else the Doctors took? ‘Cause it wasn’t supposed to be  _ me _ . They wanted _Tara_ , not me. Story of my life, huh?” He muttered bitterly.

“Wait… what do you mean it wasn’t supposed to be you? I thought you were the Doctors’ first success,” Scott pointed out. “You saying that was a fluke?”

Theo shrugged. “Dunno. Could’ve been something genetic, I guess, something we both shared. Wasn’t like the Dread Doctors told me a lot. Hell, right up until the Beast ripped her head off, I don’t think the Geneticist approved of it being me instead of Tara. The Surgeon and the Pathologist weren’t ever ‘nice’ or anything, but the Geneticist was… it was like she carried a grudge, like she was going to make me pay for being a success,” Theo said slowly, a thousand yard stare in his eyes as he watched the fire.

“You know, nobody believed Tara when she started talking about her nightmares. She said… She said that strange men in masks were taking her, every night, and experimenting on her. Everybody thought she was going crazy, you know? It went on for… Jesus, it must’ve been months,” He said thoughtfully, clearly trying to remember. “Then one day she just… stopped talking about them. Like she woke up one morning, and didn’t talk about them again. Everybody just kind of thought it had been a phase or something stupid. Then a few weeks later, she uh… she asked if I wanted to go for a walk with her.

“My… my parents were... “ He paused for a moment, an unconscious shudder running down his body.  It seemed to take him several tries before he finally spoke, his voice strained. “They weren’t good. And Tara and me… It was like… We were both just trying to survive, you know? Like, when we were kids, when I was real young, we were close, but… as we got older, things changed, and we just sort of… we got to a point where, it was hard enough just worrying about yourselves; we couldn’t worry about each other anymore. And then when she started talking about the Doctors…” A guilty look passed over his face. “It made my parents…  _ worse _ . So I avoided her, so they didn’t take it out on me too. But then she stopped talking about it, and she didn’t want to spend time with me. So it’d been months since we’d even talked, you know, so when she asked if I wanted to go for a walk, I was… I was excited, you know? It’d been so long since we’d hung out, or done anything, I just… I didn’t think anything about it.”

He took a deep breath, and Scott could see the guilt written on his face, as he continued.

“We walked out to the Preserve, and to the bridge. We didn’t really talk much, but it was just nice to hang out. But when we got there, she… she started saying how sorry she was, but she was going to make it all okay. That I’d be happier. I didn’t really get what she meant, and I was just sort of staring at her when she started trying to shove me over the railing. So I started shoving her back, and… next thing you know, she was in the water. Like, I could see that she was hurt. The bone was sticking out of her leg, and she hit her head pretty hard when she went down. And I was just… I just stood there, and stared. She started crying, asking me to help her, saying she was sorry, but I… I couldn’t move. I don’t know if it was shock, or what, but it was like I was being held in place.”  He looked up at Scott, a desperate look in his eyes. “I swear, I didn’t… it wasn’t like I meant… I just, I couldn’t move. I tried, but…”

In the dim lighting, Scott could see the embers from the fire glinting off the tears in Theo’s eyes, even as he tried wiping them away. He was quiet for a few minutes, and Scott could see him physically pulling himself together with a deep breath, before looking back up at Scott.

“When the Dread Doctors showed up, I uh… I don’t know who was more surprised, them or me,” He said with a half-chuckle. “I tried to run, but the Surgeon grabbed me. I… I couldn’t really understand a lot of what they were saying, but I caught enough to know they were trying to decide whether to scrap the whole thing, and write off their losses, or to try ‘it’ with me. Tara was still in the water, but she… she must’ve still been alive, because I started screaming for her to help me, and when I looked down, she was trying to move. Then I felt one of the Doctors stick a needle in my neck, and I don’t remember anything else until I woke up in my bed the next morning. My da —”He stopped, as if the word was caught in his throat, before continuing, “My parents were yelling about something, and I thought… I remember thinking they knew what I’d done, and now I was gonna pay for it. So I hid under my bed. Next thing I knew, my mom came in, and started crying that Tara was dead, that they’d found her body. At some point, I realized that… that they didn’t know I’d been there.

“Wanna know something funny? That night, they’d given me Tara’s heart, but they hadn’t made me a Chimera yet. So I still had a freaking huge-ass scar on my chest, and in the three weeks after Tara’s funeral, my parents never saw it. I mean, sure, I was trying to hide it, I didn’t realize what was going on, but still…”

His voice trailed off, and Scott slowly scooched closer, until he sat a few inches from Theo’s side.

“What happened to your parents?” He asked softly.

Theo shrugged. “I don’t know. We packed everything up for the move, and I went to bed the night before we were supposed to leave. When I woke up, I was strapped down to an operating table, and…” He shuddered. “I don’t know. I don’t know if the Doctors’ killed them, or if they moved without me. I asked a few times. Learned pretty quick that things went a lot smoother if I didn’t ask.”

They sat in heavy silence for what seemed an eternity, before Scott decided to take a chance. Moving slowly, so Theo had time to pull away if he wanted to, Scott slowly reached out with one arm, putting it around Theo’s shoulders.

To his surprise, Theo seemed to almost melt into the gesture, practically collapsing on Scott. He buried his face into Scott shoulder, as tears began to run down his face, quickly wetting Scott’s shirt.

Scott tightened his grip on Theo’s shoulder, a wave of sadness coursing through him; a part of him wondered how many times Theo had woken up, alone, with no one there to comfort him. Had  _ anyone  _ ever offered him that sort of affection in his life?

For the past nine years, the closest thing he’d had to someone who cared was the Dread Doctors; Scott shuddered to think of the kind of ‘comfort’ they would have given.

He remembered Theo as a kid had been a bit of klutz: clumsy, a little forgetful, and often in his own world. Nothing like the methodical, practical, and calculated perfectionist he’d become. He’d tried not to think about Theo and the Dread Doctors at the same time -because the betrayal did still hurt, no matter how guilty that made him feel -but what exactly had the Doctors done to change him like that? How much did a person have to go through to come out the other side a completely different person?

“Theo…  _ None _ of that was your fault. You know that, right? I’m not saying you didn’t screw up later, or that you’re completely innocent, but… None of what happened with Tara was your fault. There was nothing you could’ve done about it. And even later, with the Dread Doctors…” He paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to word what he wanted to say. “You know, that night when we were trying to save Mason, when the Beast killed the Doctors… Theo, you were just a  _ kid _ . And yeah, that doesn’t make what you did right, but… you were trying to survive. I’m not saying that to make you feel better, it’s the truth. That night, that was the first time that I realized that you weren’t working  _ with  _ the Dread Doctors, that you weren’t any different than the other Chimeras. That you were just as scared of them as everybody else was; hell, maybe more. You were just doing what you had to so you could survive. Yeah, you should’ve told me about the Doctors when you came back. You shouldn’t have lied about Stiles, you shouldn’t have tried to rip apart the pack, but… It’s not all your fault. ” His voice trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

Theo pulled away, and Scott reluctantly loosened his hold to let him do so.

“That’s not true, and we both know it,” Theo said quietly. “You don’t even know… I found people for them to test, Scott. I was the one who pointed out other kids for them to take. Tracey, Josh, Corey, Nathan, Hayden… All of them were because of me. I was the one who lured them in the first time. And it wasn’t just them. There were so many… I lost count over the years. And when they would fail, when the Doctors were finished with them…  _ I _ was the one who cleaned it up.  _ I _ was the one who got rid of the bodies, who cleaned the blood up off the floor, and washed up their tools. Whatever I had to do to stay off that damn table. I didn’t care how many other kids I helped put there, as long as it wasn’t  _ me _ ,” He said with a quiet, almost hysterical chuckle. “And now, like… I look back at it, and I just… After the first two years, I had so many chances to run, and I just… I didn’t.

“And yeah, okay, maybe I was scared, maybe I didn’t know where else to go, whatever, but… Scott, there’s only so much I can pawn off, right? Like, at some point, I wasn’t a kid anymore, and… I had so many chances to leave, and I knew how to avoid them, and I could’ve… Hell, I don’t even know if they would have bothered to find me; I might not have failed as bad as the other Chimeras, but I wasn’t the success they were looking for either.”

There were so many things Scott wanted to say; so many things that were so completely wrong with what Theo had said, so many things the Chimera was ignoring. The fact that they’d essentially kidnapped him; the fact that he sounded just as upset about not being a success as he did about not trying to escape. The fact that, logically, he knew he was a victim, but still blamed himself.

 But he looked so completely and utterly broken, so vulnerable, staring at the fire, hugging his knees to his chest as he looked anywhere but at Scott, that Scott wasn’t sure where to even begin.

“Theo… Look, I know that, whatever you did, or whatever you didn’t do… Yeah, okay, you’re going to have to live with that. But you’re not the monster you’re making yourself out to be.  You know some psychology, right?” 

At Theo’s terse nod, Scott continued, “Stockholm Syndrome is a real thing, and it can really fuck a person up. You did what you had to so you could  _ survive _ . I’m not saying that to justify what you did, or to try and make it right, but because…” He groaned, throwing his head back in frustration as he struggled to put his thoughts into words. “You obviously feel guilty about it, which means you’re not some sort of soulless, killing monster. If you were, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Which means that… okay, sure, you definitely weren’t the good guy in all this, but… you weren’t the bad guy either.” 

At Theo’s incredulous stare, Scott held a hand up. 

“Wait a minute, just hear me out, okay? Look at Tracey. She did a lot of screwed up stuff, right? But Tracey was just… she was a victim of the Dread Doctors. She made bad choices, there’s no denying that… but she made those bad choices, after somebody else forced her into those situations. Before the Dread Doctors turned her, Tracey was a sweet kid. Shy, quiet… didn’t really talk too much. Whatever the Dread Doctors turned her into, she was a  _ victim _ . Their victim, a victim of what they made her. We don’t know how much of what she did was actually Tracey, and how much was what the Doctors did to her.

“It’s the same thing with you. You were a good kid, Theo. And yeah, you screwed up, made a lot of bad choices, but… You were just as much a victim as Tracey, or Josh, or Corey. And you’re not that person anymore,” He pointed out. “The last six months, you’ve actually become the person you pretended to be when you first came back. You might not see it, you might not believe it, but we’ve all noticed.” When Theo opened his mouth to argue, Scott continued, “I get you’re not gonna believe me. And that’s okay; I don’t expect you too. Just… Just think about it, okay?”

Theo’s mouth snapped shut tightly, but he nodded, and started to lay down again, muttering, “Okay,” just barely loud enough for Scott to hear..

But Scott stood, holding out a hand to help Theo up. “Nah. I think we both need some good sleep. In a real freaking bed. C’mon. We’ll get you set up in the guest room.”

Theo took his hand, and stood up; Scott noticed his legs were shaky, but he chose not to say anything as the two went inside.

They were silent, moving through the house like ghosts. Theo followed behind Scott as he grabbed extra blankets out of the linen closet, and made his way into the guest bedroom. As Theo sat on the bed, Scott shifted, awkwardly from foot to foot.

“Alright, uh… I’m just gonna… head to bed,” Scott said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder. “If you need anything, just… come get me, alright?”

He waited for Theo to nod in acknowledgement before quietly closing the door and making his way to his own room.

He had just barely sat down and taken his boots off, when there was a soft knock on his door.  He frowned a bit, as he walked towards the door, pulling it open. He stared questioningly at the Chimera, who stood there awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot, blankets and pillows held under one arm.

“Would...would it be okay if...” Theo said, chewing on his bottom lip. “I don’t want to be alone. Can… Can I sleep in here? I’ll crash on the floor, I just…”

Scott started to nod, before he looked at his bed, then back at the Chimera with a smile. “You don’t have to sleep on the floor, Theo. Just... don’t steal all the covers, alright?”

Theo gave him an unsure look, before sliding around him, and settling onto the far side of the bed. He turned on his side, at the farthest edge, taking up as little space as possible.

Sighing, Scott quickly slid his pants off, and yanked on a pair of gym shorts, before climbing in next to him. He wanted to tell Theo that he could take up more space, that it was a queen size bed… but he thought better of it; he was surprised Theo had taken him up on the offer at all, and he didn’t want to push it.

Part of him wanted to chalk all of it -whatever ‘it’ was -to his Alpha instinct to protect and comfort a member of his pack. Derek had explained to him once that the bond between an Alpha and his pack was just as strong as a parent to a child; that he’d find himself doing anything to protect his pack, no matter the cost, no matter what it took.

But a small, nagging part of him knew that was -at least partially -a lie. That he wouldn’t have allowed anyone else from the pack to share a bed with him, no matter how innocent that sharing might have been.

As much as he might have tried not to think about it, Theo had become a part of his life; he wasn’t lying when he told Theo that he’d become the guy he’d first pretended to be. He was a sounding board, somebody Scott could trust, implicitly, no matter what needed to be done. He was always there, a steadying, almost grounding presence in Scott’s chaotic life.

A thought occurred to him, and he barely resisted the urge to sit up in shock.

Theo had become his anchor. After so long of being his own anchor, of forcing himself to keep it all inside, to let everyone depend on him… Theo had become his anchor. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, or how, but… the more he thought about it, the more the idea solidified, a warm, comforting feeling spread through him, and he felt a small smile come to his face.

He had an anchor.

_Huh_.

As he stretched out, arms behind his head, he couldn’t help the smile on his face, as he listened to the steady sound of Theo’s heartbeat, until it finally lulled him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you to the lovely Demonzdust for beta'ing. Also, for anyone interested, there's still a day and a half left on Scott McCall appreciation week. It's a great way to dip your toe into writing, whether it's one-shots, or novel-length, and you'll meet some great people.

When Theo woke, he immediately noticed two very wrong things.

The first was that he actually felt rested, better than he had felt in months.

The other was that someone was lying beside him, snoring softly.

He felt the memories of last night come rushing back when he turned his head and saw Scott curled up on his side. A bit of drool was dripping down the corner of the Alpha’s mouth, and he shifted a bit in his sleep, moving closer to Theo’s side of the bed.

For a moment, Theo tensed, feeling his body freeze as Scott’s hand brushed against his side. It took a few deep breaths before he was able to calm down, to make his muscles relax; even knowing that it was Scott only took the edge off of his panic, leaving him feeling jittery and out of sorts.

Silently, Theo slid off the edge, moving carefully to avoid waking him. He made his way out of the room, and had just closed the door, when he felt a presence behind him. Spinning sharply, he turned to see Argent standing there, arms folded across his chest, an unreadable look on his face.

Theo could feel his own face turning red; he had a good idea what the Hunter was thinking. “I uh… We didn’t… I mean…” He stumbled for something to say, finally giving up, and standing there awkwardly.

Argent held his gaze for a moment, before shrugging casually. “You’re both big boys, Theo. What you do is your own business. There’s someone downstairs for you.”

“For  _ me _ ?” Theo asked, surprise in his voice. Who the hell could be looking for him? And who would look at Scott’s house of all places?

Argent arched one eyebrow. “Yes, Theo. For you. When Lowe’s delivers fifteen thousand dollars worth of appliances, countertops and a table, they want to make sure it goes to the right person.”

“...Oh.”

“ ‘Oh’ indeed.” He didn’t say anything further. As the older man started back downstairs, Theo followed behind him, spotting the delivery man standing in the doorway.

“Are you…” The man looked back down at his paperwork. “Theodore Raeken?”

Theo bristled at the use of his full name, but nodded. “That’s me.”

“Good. Sign here, and we’ll bring ‘em inside,” The man said boredly, shoving the clipboard at Theo. He signed the papers with his neat, precise signature, and handed it back. The man looked it over quickly, before nodding, and turning towards the truck. “Alright boys, bring ‘em in!”

“Where’s Mrs. McCall?” Theo asked quietly, moving back to Argent, who stood by the stairs.

“Getting breakfast.”

“Any way we could  _ not  _ tell her this was me?”

“Theo? What’s going on?”

Theo jumped a bit, turning his head to spot Scott at the top of the stairs, slowly moving towards them with a yawn.

“Uh…”

“Theo bought your mom new appliances, and a table.”

Theo glared at Argent, who gave him a lazy smile.

“You…What? How?” Scott asked, the last remnants of sleep vanishing from his voice. “Theo, you don’t have any money.”

“I -” He cut off abruptly, groaning as he heard Melissa’s car parking on the street. “Guys, can we please not tell Mrs. McCall about this?”

“She’s gonna find out anyways, Theo,” Argent said with a shrug. “Might as well get it over with.”

“What the hell is all this?” Melissa’s voice came from the other side of the open door, and the three men could see her staring over the delivery men, trying to see inside. “What’s going on?” After a few seconds, she moved around the men and ducked inside.

Theo looked to both Scott and Argent for help, but the two were staring back at him, Scott questioningly, Chris carefully neutral. So he took a deep breath, and turned towards Melissa.

“Um… You were talking about your appliances and how much you liked them and all, so I… I bought you some. When we went to Lowe’s,” He said uncomfortably, shifting from foot to foot. “It’s… It’s no big deal.”

“No big deal? Theo, this… how much did all this cost?”

“It’s fine. Really. I… It’s no big deal, it wasn’t —”He was cut off as Melissa set the two plastic bags down on the hallway table, and pulled him into a hug. Immediately, he felt his body go stock-still, the warmth of the embrace warring with the feeling of being pinned against his will. He found himself unsure of whether or not he wanted to lean into the hug, or to tear away.

When she tightened her grip, however, the choice was made for him, as he felt his heartbeat jump, a roaring starting to build in his ears.

“Okay. I uh… I left my wallet upstairs, I should probably go grab it; the delivery guy is going to want to see my ID,” He said, disentangling himself as gently as he could from her embrace. Once he was free, he slid past Argent and Scott, and practically ran up the stairs to the guest bedroom where he’d left his things.

With a sigh, he gently shut the door behind him, before sitting down on the bed. He’d hoped nobody would have to find out he’d paid for the appliances, or that somebody else would take credit; it was stupid, in retrospect, but… He hadn’t wanted anybody to know; he’d wanted it to be something good that he did, just for him to know. Not for the gratification, or so someone could accuse him of trying to buy affection later on.

He wanted to do something nice, just for the sake of doing something nice for Melissa; she’d been decent to him that first night, and then she’d had to do impromptu surgery on her freaking coffee table after her house had been shot up, and she’d still bought him breakfast the next morning.

It’d been so long since he’d had anyone do anything for him, without an ulterior motive, he’d just wanted to return the gesture. To show her that her general kindness wasn’t  unnoticed. But now... 

He could already hear Stiles’ grumbling about trying to ‘sneak his way into the Pack again’. Could see the sheriff’s suspicious look, appraising him, trying to work out his hidden motive.

He let himself fall backwards until he was laying on the bed, his feet still on the floor. His ‘good deed’ would be viewed as nothing more than an attempt to buy Scott and Melissa’s affection. One of the few  _ unselfish  _ things he’d ever done in his life, and it was going to be turned upside down, used to prove just how selfish he was.

“Theo? Can I come in?”

He picked his head up, looking at the door, and sighed again, laying his head back down. “It’s your house, Scott,” He said quietly, knowing the werewolf could hear him perfectly fine. A few moments later, Scott entered the room, closing the door, and sitting down on the bed next to him.

“So I’m pretty sure you’re not just gonna let this go,” Theo said after a minute of silence, pushing himself up on his elbows.

“Not really. I just… I’m trying to wrap my head around you having that kind of money to throw around,” Scott admitted slowly, and Theo could tell the Alpha was hesitating to ask ‘how’ he’d gotten that money.

He rolled his eyes. “Look, I didn’t steal it, alright? The Dread Doctors had a lot of money, and they didn’t want me bothering them about stuff, so they gave me access to their accounts. Until somebody proves they’re dead, the accounts are open, and I can still pull money if I need to. So it’s not like I spent my own money or anything,” He finished quietly. “Seriously, it’s nothing.”

“If you had all that money, why are you still sleeping in your truck then?” Scott asked curiously.

Theo scoffed, loudly as he sat up. “What was I gonna do? Get a house, or an apartment somewhere?”

“Well, I mean, if you have the money, you probably could’ve gotten an ID saying you were old enough, right? Why  _ wouldn’t  _ you?”

Theo shook his head, staring down at the floor. “Scott, do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had anything that was  _ mine _ ? A house that wasn’t fake, filled with fake shit, that some scared shitless people threw together to keep the Doctors from killing them? Since I’ve had anything of my own that I could’ve put up on the walls, or on a shelf somewhere? Closest thing I ever had to my own room, that was actually mine, was whatever little chunk of sewer space the Doctors weren’t using. Hell, even when I was a kid, I wasn’t allowed to put my stuff up; my… I was always told that it wasn’t actually  _ my  _ room, that it was a room they  _ graciously  _ allowed me to use. That it was a  _ privilege  _ that they could take away whenever they wanted.”

He sighed, and finally looked up at Scott. “Sure, my truck might not be the most comfortable, or the most spacious, or whatever, but… It’s mine. The only thing I’ve ever owned that was all mine, that I could do what I pleased with. The only thing I’ve got that doesn’t have any memories -of the Doctors, of fake parents, of my real parents… It’s not full of a bunch of random shit that people who didn’t care about me put there,” He said bitterly. “It’s not much, but the truck, and everything in it, is mine. Because I want it there, or because I want to sleep there. It’s just… It’s always been the one place that’s just mine; the one place where I’m safe. ”

He looked back down at the floor, unable to take the pity in Scott’s eyes any longer.

“Theo… I get it,” Scott said softly, leaning in closer. “I mean… I don’t —I’ve never had to deal with any of that, and I can’t…” Theo dared a glance up, and saw Scott looking around the room. “I can’t  _ imagine  _ not having a space to call my own. But I understand why you’re doing it. But Theo, it’s not…” He hesitated for a moment. “It’s  _ not  _ safe. I know I’ve said it before, and I know you’ve ignored me, but seriously… What if Monroe attacks again? What if she captures you again? We wouldn’t even  _ know  _ until somebody found your truck. If you don’t want to get your own place, that’s fine, I get it, but… You could always stay here.”

Theo groaned. “Scott, I didn’t… I didn’t buy the stuff from Lowe’s to guilt you into giving me a place to stay, okay? I did it because your mom needed it, and I know you guys don’t have the money. I do. So it was just… She did me a favor, I did her a favor, we’re even; you don’t have to feel guilty about it. That’s what I was trying to avoid by just doing it without telling anyone. I’m not trying to buy your affection or anything, I was just…” He trailed off, unable to vocalize what he was feeling.

“Theo… My mom didn’t help you so you’d owe her; you know that, right?”

He scoffed as he stood. “Yes, Scott, I know that. She did it because she’s just a genuinely good person; I know you think I’m so fucked in the head I can’t tell when someone’s just being nice, but —”

Scott stood in response, cutting him off. “Theo, you’re not gonna just get me angry, and make me forget about this. If that’s what you’re thinking, you might as well just stop. What I’m  _ trying  _ to say is that, I’m not offering you a place to stay because I feel ‘guilty’ that you bought my mom some freaking appliances. I’m offering you a place to stay because you  _ deserve  _ a freaking  _ home _ , Theo. You deserve a room where you can hang shitty posters, or have a bed with a blanket that you picked out because you like the design. A dresser where you can put your clothes, and a place to sleep where you don’t have to worry about cops telling you to move, or somebody jumping you while you’re sleeping. Maybe you think you don’t deserve that, but I do.”

Theo stared at him incredulously. “Are you serious? In case you forgot, Scott, I tried to kill you. I wound Liam up, and set him loose to murder you. I almost ruined your friendship with Stiles, I shot Malia, I nearly killed Lydia, I helped the Doctors turn Mason into the Beast, I… I fucking  _ betrayed  _ all of you! Your whole goddamn pack!”

“Yes, you did,” Scott replied sharply. “But you were afraid of the Doctors; you were trying to survive! I don’t agree with what you did, Theo, but I don’t blame you for it either! If I thought that  _ any  _ of that was by choice, because you just wanted to screw with us, just for shits and giggles, do you think I would’ve let you into my house? That I would’ve asked you to protect my mom?! Seriously, Theo, I don’t know what else I can do to show you that I don’t hate you, I don’t blame you for it, and I’ve forgiven you!”

“But you shouldn’t!” Theo snapped. “How do you know I won’t do it again, huh?! You seem to think that it was all just the Dread Doctors, that I just blindly did whatever they told me, ‘cause I was afraid’, but that’s not what happened, Scott! I made my own choices, and you just don’t want to see it! I’m not that kid from fourth grade, Scott, if I ever fucking was! You’ve just… glamorized it, like you can forgive anything because, ‘hey, he used to be a good kid ten years ago!’ That’s not how life works, okay?!

“You can go on about ‘forgiving’ me as much as you want; that doesn’t mean I fucking deserve it! Don’t you get it?! I helped the Doctors  _ kill  _ people! I set kids up, like lambs to the wolves, to be experimented on, and to hell with them if they weren’t strong enough to survive! I broke your  _ pack  _ apart from the inside out, and nearly killed all of you, just to save my own ass! If you weren’t such a stupidly good fucking person, you’d realize that you shouldn’t trust me farther than your mom could throw me!”

He turned towards the door, before Scott’s voice stopped him.

“Theo.” It was quiet, but Theo could feel the power of the Alpha fill the room, could feel the desire of his wolf side to turn around…

But he resisted.

“You might be an Alpha, Scott, but you’re not  _ my  _ Alpha,” He said quietly, not turning to look back at him. With that, he left, closing the door behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, folks! I'm hoping to have the next part to this up maybe by next weekend.
> 
> Thank you for sticking with my very unreliable posting habits, and for all the comments. They seriously make my day. Shout-out to DemonzDust for beta'ing this for me as well. Y'all have been great, and I hope you'll stick around for part two!

The house felt… empty.

Melissa glanced around at her newly finished kitchen. Her new appliances and countertops all glittered around her as she sat her kitchen table. She took a sip of her coffee, and sighed.

Chris had left after he’d finished fixing her window; there was no trace of the mayhem had that destroyed her kitchen only two days ago.

Theo had left much earlier; unlike that first day, he hadn’t stayed around to help, sneaking out before she even had a chance to notice he was missing. Whatever reason he’d left had put Scott on edge, and uncharacteristically snippy all day;  when he’d snapped at Liam over dropping a box of nails, she’d finally told him to go take a lap and run it off.

He’d returned, a few hours later, and given her a sheepish apology. He hadn’t offered an explanation, and —at the time —she hadn’t asked.

But now, as she heard the shower turn off, she decided that she was going to give her son her two cents, and he could do with it what he would. When Scott came around the corner a few minutes later, still toweling his hair dry, she motioned for him to sit.

“What’s up, mom?” He asked, a bit cautiously.

She slid him over a cup of coffee. “Wanna tell me what happened earlier?”

Scott sighed, taking a sip of the coffee and staring at the table for a few moments, before finally speaking.

“I just… I don’t know, Mom,” He admitted quietly. “I’ve never had anybody fight against being  _ forgiven  _ like Theo does, and I don’t know how to deal with it. Like, I’m trying to show him that I trust him, that I understand he wasn’t the bad guy in all that, but he just… every time I mention it, he lashes out like I’ve just killed his puppy or something,” 

Melissa frowned, setting her drink down, and folding her arms on the table. “ _ Have _ you forgiven him?” She asked curiously. During the months since Theo had returned from Hell, she’d noticed a dramatic change in Theo, far beyond the general ‘helpfulness’ that most of the Pack liked to comment on.

It wasn’t even so much that he was truly becoming the person he’d pretended to be when he’d first arrived; he wasn’t looking for acclaim, or trying to force his way into the Pack. At first, she’d refused to admit it, refused to see the changes. Afterall, he’d played a very active roll in her son’s ‘death’. No matter how much Scott trusted him, that was always a key factor in her general distrust.

But the past few days had forced her to reevaluate her outlook. Not only because Scott truly did seem to value the Chimera’s friendship, but because in those few days, she’d gotten a good glimpse at what lay underneath that cool exterior Theo kept up. A glimpse that showed her just how broken, and damaged, the poor boy truly was.

Scott’s  head jerked up, blinking at her a few times, an incredulous look on his face. 

“Of course I have! Just like I forgave  all  the Chimeras for what they did; I’m not saying that what they did was right, I get they weren’t completely innocent, but they were just... it’s kind of like when somebody beats their dog, and the dog ends up attacking somebody. Yeah, the dog isn’t completely innocent, but fear can twist people. Who turned him mean? Who taught him that?”

Melissa smiled at him softly. “Probably the same people who taught him that every mistake needed to be punished.” When Scott looked up at her quizzically, she chuckled. “Scott, I know… Things with your dad… well, they were rough for a while. But you had enough people in your life, telling you that it was okay to make mistakes; that it was okay to screw up, as long as you apologized and tried to make it right. I mean, sure, you were grounded when you really screwed up, but even then… we always talked about it, and I always made sure you knew that it was okay. That screwing up, that doing something wrong, was simply being human.

“Now, I don’t know a lot about the Dread Doctors; I don’t know what they did to Theo when he was growing up. But I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that Theo didn’t get that sort of reassurance. I imagine that, when he made a mistake, or did something wrong, things were… decidedly  _ unpleasant _ .”

“Okay, fine, but I’m not the Dread Doctors!” Scott exclaimed,  frustratedly . “I’m trying to help him, not… punish him, or whatever!”

“Yes, that’s true. But… Scott, you’ve worked with a lot of abused animals over the years. How does any abused dog react when they bring them to the clinic? They think that you’re just like the people who’ve hurt them, who’ve mistreated them their whole lives. Even when you’re just trying to help, they’re liable to bite you, to try and attack you.

“We’re not that different from dogs. And not because most of you are werewolves,” She added with an eye roll, seeing his little half-smirk. “But because we are what we know. When you spend your whole life waiting to be punished for things outside of your control, when making mistakes earns you nothing but pain… That’s what you learn to expect.

“Now, I’ll admit, I haven’t spent as much time with Theo as the rest of you have. But from what I’ve seen, he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for somebody to punish him for what he’s done, or what he’s doing. He can’t bring himself to trust —to really  _ trust _ —any of you, because he’s so busy waiting for you to lash out at him. To make him ‘pay’ for everything he’s done. Because that’s what he knows, that’s what he expects. You remember how you used to feel whenever your dad was around, even when he was sober?” At Scott’s small nod, she continued, “That’s how  _ everybody  _ in Theo’s life was to him. That feeling that you would get around your dad… Theo didn’t have anyone like Dr. Deaton, or Sheriff Stilinski, your teachers at school… For the last ten years, he had nothing but the Doctors, Scott. That’s all he knows.”

“And before that, his parents weren’t much better,” Scott added darkly. “He told me… All he would say was they ‘weren’t good’.”

Melissa nodded. “I sort of put that together. Unfortunately, I see a lot of kids like Theo at the hospital. Kids just waiting for somebody to beat the snot of them, just because they can. Because they’re bigger, or stronger. Honestly, I’m surprised he’s as adjusted as he is,” She said, a hint of admiration in her voice.

“ _ Adjusted _ ? Mom, he’s like…” Scott struggled for a moment, trying to find the words. “He has nightmares.  _ Bad  _ nightmares. When we slept outside last night, he had a nightmare, and… I tried to wake him up, and it took him like five minutes to realize where he was. He has access to who-knows-how-much money from the Dread Doctors, and he’s still living in his truck. He bought you thousands of dollars worth of kitchen stuff, because you made him dinner, and pulled those bullets out of him.”

“I didn’t say he was ‘ _ well-adjusted _ ’, Scott. I said that he was as adjusted as he is. For somebody who spent his life tortured and abused, the fact that he’s able to empathize at all is a miracle.” She paused for a moment, before frowning. “What do you mean  _ still  _ living in his truck’? How long as he been living in his damn truck?”

Scott shrugged. “I don’t know. At least since the thing with the Wild Hunt. We’ve all talked to him about it, but he doesn’t… he says he doesn’t need our help. I asked why he doesn’t get a place of his own, and he said it’s because everywhere he’s ever lived, it hasn’t been ‘his’, and it’s always been ‘fake’. I told him he could stay here with us, that he could have the spare bedroom, and he basically called me an idiot for trusting him,” He said  dejectedly .

Melissa stared at him for a moment, before pushing herself to her feet, and heading towards the door.

“Mom? Where you going?” Scott called out behind her.

“To adopt yet another teenage werewolf.”

  
  


Theo was staring up at the ceiling of his truck, tracing patterns he’d seen a hundred times, when he heard the soft cracking of the pine needles outside.

He’d spent enough nights in the preserve to recognize most of the critters that passed through after sundown; whatever was coming towards him was definitely walking on two legs. So he forced his body to relax as he silently slid down onto the floor, prepping for a fight.

“Theo?”

His head shot up, staring out the window in surprise. “Mrs. McCall? What the hell are you doing here?” He demanded, opening the back door of the truck, and climbing out. “It’s almost two in the morning!”

“Yes, I’m well aware,” She said, one eyebrow quirked. “Noah said you’d been parking in the preserve, but there are nine parking lots on this side of it. I hate to think what would’ve happened if you’d needed help,” She added pointedly.

Theo groaned, rolling his eyes as he leaned against the bed of the truck. “Seriously, I’m fine. This isn’t the first time I’ve slept outside. Or by myself. Besides, I switch locations every few days, so I’m never in the same spot for long. I’ve been doing this for eight months now, I think I’m okay.”

She sighed quietly, moving next to him, and folding her arms across her chest. “Theo, this is anything but ‘okay’. You’re -”

“Eighteen? A fully grown adult? Fully capable of taking care of myself, like I’ve been doing for years?” He supplied, unable to keep all the grumpiness from his voice as he preemptively cut her off.

She nodded thoughtfully a few times, before giving him a sad smile. “Absolutely none of that is right. You’re not eighteen, you’re not an adult, and if this is your idea of taking care of yourself, I hate to see what ‘trouble’ is for you.”

Theo scoffed. 

“How do you know how old I am?”

“Because I pulled your hospital records. Your birthday isn’t for another month.” When  only Theo stared at her blankly, she continued, “June 22nd. That’s your birthday, when you’ll be eighteen.”

“Oh. Huh. I knew it was in the summer, I just couldn’t remember when,” He said quietly. 

“Yeah, I can’t imagine the Dread Doctors were big on birthdays,” She said gently.

Theo chuckled darkly. “You could say that, I guess.” He shook his head. “That’s not the point. I’m fine, okay? I’m eating three meals a day, I’m taking showers every other day, and I get plenty of sleep, so I’ll grow up big and strong,” He said with a sardonic smile.

Melissa laughed. “Theo, I might not have super-werewolf senses, but I wasn’t born yesterday either. I’ve had eighteen years of watching Scott lie to me, and I’ve gotten pretty damn good at spotting it. Lemme take a few guesses here, hmm? I’d say… two or three hours of sleep a night, maybe a meal every day or two. As far as showers go… That one I buy —the school gym has showers, which makes it pretty easy.”

Theo groaned, shoving off of the truck. “Why do you care? Seriously, what’s it matter? I mean, you do remember that I’m the guy who killed Scott, right? Shouldn’t this —” he waved his hands angrily at his truck “—make you smile?”

Melissa stared at him thoughtfully, her dark eyes narrowed. “A few months ago, Theo, it probably would have, as much as I hate to admit it,” She said finally. “Scott… He carries everything. The weight of the world, the fact that some random person somewhere stubbed their toe, that there’s a homeless, malnourished cat somewhere… But I think one of the things that eats at him the most is that he didn’t try to save you.”

Theo started, staring at her in confusion. “Wh… Why?”

Melissa chuckled. “Because he’s tried to save everyone. Peter tried to kill him, Deucalion tried to kill him… Hell, even Chris came close a few times. But he still tried to redeem them all. Except for you.”

“That wasn’t his fault,” Theo protested. “I was literally trying to kill him and his entire pack when it happened. What was he going to do, just let me? And it’s not like he could have known what Kira was going to do either...”

“That’s not what I’m talking about, although I imagine he probably feels guilty about that too. I’m talking about the whole thing with the Dread Doctors in general. Because of that right there,” She pointed out, as an unconscious shudder ran through him. “Because he didn’t see that you were just as much a victim of them as Corey, or Josh, or Tracey.”

“But I’m not!” Theo exploded. “I’m not a fucking  _ victim _ ! You and Scott keep looking at me like I’m the victim, but I was the one victimizing everyone else!”

“Let me ask you something,” Melissa said, surprisingly calm in the face of his anger. “What would have happened if you hadn’t?”

“What?”

“What would the Doctors have done if you’d refused? If you’d just… sat on the sidelines and watched it all happen?”

Theo felt his blood run cold at the thought; he’d only refused the Dread Doctors’ orders once. Even with his chimeric healing, it’d taken him almost a week before he had been fully healed. The memory of having his insides sliced out, and draped around the room had ensured he hadn’t repeated that more than once.

When he was able to focus on Melissa again, her eyes were sad. 

“Exactly,” She said quietly. “You didn’t have a choice. And trust me, Theo, I get it: guilt is a hell of a thing, and you can’t look past what you did to forgive yourself.”

Theo scoffed. “You think Tracey, or Josh would ‘ _forgive_ ’ me for handing them to the Doctors in the first place? Think they’d ‘ _forgive_ ’ me for killing them?”

“I don’t know, Theo. But you know who  _ has  _ forgiven you for killing them? Scott. He’s sitting at home right now, beating himself up because you left. Trying to figure out how to help you.

“And I’ll be honest with you, Theo, I don’t know if it’s his savior complex, because you were one of the few friends he had as a kid, or something else entirely. But I do know that these past few days, that you’ve been staying with us? It’s the most at ease I’ve seen him in a long time.”

Theo couldn’t help the brief flash of hope that filled his chest. “Really?” He asked, hating how his voice seemed to break.

Melissa smiled. “Really. Which is why you’re going to come back with me, and we’re going to get you settled into the spare room.”

Despite himself, Theo shook his head. “I… Melissa, I can’t,” He said, a plaintive tone in his voice. “You don’t… you don’t understand.”

“Theo… I know what it’s like to not have a place to call your own. I grew up bouncing around from one of my parents, to my grandparents, to my aunts and uncles… It seemed like I never stayed anywhere long enough to make it mine. And by the time I’d circle back around, it’d been turned into another guest room, or I’d be sharing it with somebody else. I know how…  _ scary…  _ it is to finally have something that you always wanted. Because if you don’t have it, nobody can take it away from you,” She said quietly. “But that’s not going to happen unless you want it to. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”

Melissa watched, as a slew of emotions ran across Theo’s face.

“Why?” He asked, desperation clear in his voice, his normally unreadable face contorted with distress. “Why does it matter to you?”

She could feel a piece of her heart shatter at how absolutely broken he looked. But she forced a smile to her face anyways. “Two reasons, Theo. One, because it matters to Scott,” She said firmly. “You may not understand it, you may not like it, but you matter to him. He cares about you. He cares what happens to you. And since I care about Scott, what matters to him, matters to me. 

“But also… because you’re just a kid. For all you’ve been through, for everything you’ve done, everything that’s been done to you… you’re still just a kid. And every kid deserves a home, a place to feel safe. A place that is unconditionally yours, because the people there care about you. Because I think you deserve the opportunity to figure out _who_ you are, instead of _what_ you _had_ to be to stay alive.”

Theo hesitated, chewing on his bottom lip for a few moments, before he finally looked up at her. Tears glistened in the corners of his eyes, as he said, “You shouldn’t care about me, though. I’m not… I don’t deserve it.”

“That’s the thing, Theo. At the end of the day, most of us don’t deserve it. But that’s what pack does; that’s what  _ family  _ does. Even when you make mistakes, even when you screw up… They still care. Now c’mon: it’s cold out here, and my feet hurt from all the walking I had to do to find you. Give a girl a lift.”

She watched, as Theo glanced over his shoulder at the trees behind him, before nodding, and turning back towards her. After a minute, he finally nodded, opening the door to his truck. “Alright,” He said slowly, his voice quiet. “Hop in.”


End file.
